MSEDCL has decided to install all time payment (ATP) machines in several cities of the state to enable power consumers to pay bill round the clock. These machines will be installed by private operators, who will get transaction charges per bill. The biggest problem with this project is lack of volume. A few years ago, two machines were installed in Congress Nagar division. However, they closed down due to lack of adequate response. If an operator has to generate profit from a machine then minimum 6,000 bills must be paid through this machine. Torrent Power is however successfully running such machines in Bhiwandi.

An MSEDCL official said that even though many people had started paying online, the number of people wishing to pay bills after office hours was increasing. "All of them do not have net connections. Some are wary of using credit or debit cards for paying bills. So we expect good response to this venture. Moreover, earlier there were problems with integration with MSEDCL software. This time there will be no such problems."

The official added that MSEDCL has however given priority to operators whose machines have facility to collect bills through swapping of credit and debit cards.

The tender was placed for 168 ATP machines and in January all revenue headquarters and big cities are expected to be covered. The official said that the machine will be like an ATM with instructions displayed on the screen in English. "The operator will deploy his staff to assist people in paying the bills. The machine will collect bills through cash, cheque and demand draft (DD) and generate a printed receipt. It will also generate data backup and necessary management information system (MIS) as per MSEDCL's requirement."

The operator will have to deposit the collected cash/cheque/DD in the designated bank account and the MIS data in the office of MSEDCL on next working day by 11am.

The final location of the ATP machine will be jointly decided by zonal chief engineer and bidders keeping in mind the target customers for this payment mode. However, the cities where the project will be implemented have been more or less finalized.